Arsenal fans on social media have likened Guendouzi to Gullit following Atletico friendly

Young midfielder, Matteo Guendouzi made his Arsenal debut yesterday, playing an hour and a quarter in the club’s 3-1 defeat on penalties to Atletico Madrid. The 19-year-old Frenchman looked tidy on the ball and helped to dictate the tempo for Unai Emery’s side but ultimately couldn’t help influence the scoreline as the game ended 1-1 before Atletico won penalties.

And here comes another sub…

@MatteoGuendouzi
@Joewillock

What did you make of Matteo’s first start for us?

1-1 (74)#ICC2018 pic.twitter.com/euyMDLcdFG

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) 26 July 2018

Guendouzi has definitely come into Arsenal as a ‘one for the future’ option. At such a young age, Emery will have to nurture the Frenchman until he’s at the level where he can be starting week in week out for The Gunners. A lot of the fans seem to think that won’t be too far away. After impressing on his debut against Atletico he’ll be looking forward to the rest of the club’s friendlies against the likes of PSG and Lazio.

In truth, the sides that both Atletico and Arsenal put out were both sides that Diego Simeone and Emery wouldn’t have any qualms with fielding in the Premier League and La Liga if they had to. Some of Arsenal’s youngsters have been making names for themselves and it’s not a shock at all to see that Guendouzi is one of those. His ability to pick a pass and control the tempo of the game were on show and the fans will be delighted if he can keep that form up into the new season.

You can read the Gunners’ verdict on Guendouzi here: